Life’s Lessons Learned and Lost
by Heather Cream
Summary: Not really from a video game so much as WhiteWolf's Sabbat LARP a vampire based live action roll playing game. I have been part of a local LARP troop for the last 11 years and I have been inspired to write out some of the scenes that I have been part of o
1. Chapter 1

Life's Lessons Learned and Lost

Chapter I: Death

"You must understand, Klaus that this is a very private, emotional occasion for Angelique." Christopher's calm British voice resonated over the impossibly small cellular phone.

"I understand- he is your pack mate now, but you must understand that he was my pack mate for almost forty years and if he is to die, I feel that I have a right to be present so that I may officiate his rite of passage." Pouted the beautiful youth. Klaus was not sure how he felt on the matter at hand. He could not decide if he should be upset, elated or indifferent about what was about to happen to Hanz. Either way, he knew that he wanted to be there when the young man's mind finally snapped and the suns rays led the beautiful Hitler Youth into sweet release.

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "Alright, you will be permitted to watch, providing that you will be hidden and will not immerge unless I give you the signal. You will also be required to willingly submit to one _lesson _of Angelique's choosing. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

By the time the black chauffeured Bentley made its way up the private drive, the dense January rain had almost let up. The sun would be up in just an hour or so as planned, everything must be perfect. Klaus pulled his richly furred coat up around his angelic face and made his way up to the front door. There he was ushered quickly inside by Christopher who bid him to obscure from view and wait in the drawing room. He did as he was told, still not entirely sure if he hoped that Hanz would pass this most extreme test or if more pleasure would be found in watching the youth's mind snap pulling him towards his final rest. Christopher made sure that there was a path cleared from the drawing room to the open front door that would soon usher in the sunrise.

After a few moments, footsteps made their way down the stairs and into the drawing room. Angelique clad in a translucent white robe led Hanz into the room. His face, as always, was a marble statue -perfect chiseled features of a 17 year old blond haired blue eyed boy, a supreme specimen of the Arian race.

"What is it you want show me before I leave this country?" he monotoned in his German accent, lifting one accusing eyebrow.

"My daughter wishes to teach you a lesson before you leave. She wishes to show you what she has longed to share with you all these years." Christopher replied gesturing towards Angelique.

Angelique made her way across the room and took her ex-lovers hand. "I wish to share with you the experiences you have give me that I am so grateful for. You have taught me more than you will ever know. I have learned the greatest lesson of my existence from you and I wish to return the favor." With her words, Christopher removed a glass case from a hidden section in the nearby book shelf. Inside were the remains of a two month old fetus floating silently in a sea of formaldehyde. Its flesh artistically flayed and streaming around it's small form.

"Hanz, we would like you to meet your daughter." Smiled Christopher.

Hanz' face shrunk in, his gaze fell to the floor as if searching for the words to escape the situation.

"They says it is a wives tale that one can feel the moment of conception but I know it to be true. I felt it. I knew we had created a new life that night and I felt it die and pass from my body when I was embraced. I knew I had to keep her to remind me of the lessons you had taught me." Her words were sincere and honest with no inference of mocking or venom. But Christopher's face held a different story. Silence filled the room and threatened to smother the conversation.

"So what do you wish to do with this new knowledge, Hanz?" Christopher smiled as he gazed from Hanz to the open door with the growing dawn preparing for its daily visitation .

As if a new reserve of hidden strength had just been discovered and cultivated, Hanz lifted his eyes and spoke with the same stern voice he always employed.

"I guess this means I will remain here. I must raise my family now."

Angelique smiled, obviously pleased. He had passed the test, learned the lesson of pain without breaking-a most unexpected turn of events. Christopher looked mildly disappointed but satisfied that his daughter's lesson had been adequately applied. But somewhere, hidden within the room's lush interior, a bitter jealousy sparked within Klaus like a hot coal readying to ignite a fire.

The flame was sudden and unexpected just as Hanz' declaration of parental duty had been. He had done what Klaus could not. He had proven that he was indeed a man before his embrace, fathering a child even if all that remained of the fruits of his labor existed as an art piece in a case of sixty five year old formaldehyde. Klaus would forever be a fifteen year old boy, trapped inevitably in a vision of angelic youth. The soft, almost feminine, curves of his body caught in that stage just before the full blossom of manhood. His sire had insured that he would forever remain his perfect little cherubim while Hanz had proven himself beyond the flower of youth. Despite their apparent two year age difference, Hanz would always be more a man than Klaus could hope to be.

He had been a solider, Klaus had been an alter boy. Hanz had a sleek body that was slender yet powerful with youthful, well defined muscles and chiseled features from the years serving the Hitler Jugend while Klaus retained the soft, full lips, wide luminescent eyes and gossamer blush of youth. Any evidence of approaching manhood had been plucked from him by his sire to ensure his look of immortal angelic purity. This was just one more slap in the face to Klaus, one more reminder of the permanency of his youthful condition. Despite the actual one-hundred and twenty five year age difference between the two of them, Hanz would always be appear to be older than him and the proof of that stared at the Canites with sightless eyes from behind it's small glass prison in a sea of formaldehyde.

He wanted to scream and pull out his hair. He wanted to take the grotesque baby, the reminder of his inferiority to Hanz, and break it into thousands of glittering peaces right in front of the newly christen parents. But the sudden rush of desire to smash the case was superseded by Angelique taking off her elegant white robe to revel a mass of silken bandages that had been skillfully wrapped around her lithe frame and sewn into the fabric of her garment. As she fully removed the robe, the connected bandages dropped free reveling her flesh hanging in spreads off her body, the price she had paid to her sire to ensure Klaus' front row seat to this circus.

Hanz took her hand and the two disappeared out the door heading towards Angelique's bedchambers.

"Jiles, I think I shall have my tea served in the next room if you don't mind." said Christopher closing the front door to keep out the eager sunrise. It was an obvious signal for Klaus to meet with Christopher but the words were lost and curiosity won the moment as Klaus silently followed Hanz and Angelique to her private chambers.

He watched, hidden from their minds, as Hanz lovingly stitch Angelique back together and then tenderly made love to her. If anyone had learned a lesson this evening, Klaus was sure it was him, and he did not enjoy what he had learned.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II: History Lessons

Klaus awoke before the two lovers began to stir the following evening and slipped out the door before they could notice his presence. He made his way to Christopher and fabricated a half hearted excuse as to why he did not meet with him the previous night. He then hastily made his way into the adjacent study to await Angelique's lesson-one that he had promised to subjugate himself to.

A few hours passed when finally Angelique came to the study and ushered Klaus into her bedchamber.

She bit him to remove his clothes and he obliged her request. She then skillfully bound him in silken straps and him suspended in a kneeling position, his knees apart and his genitals bound tightly between his legs. Klaus was never fond of pain but he was not unfamiliar to its sensation. He mentally prepared himself in whispered prayer while Angelique made small cuts along his perfect flesh.

"To properly teach a subject one must first know a bit about the pupil. So, tell me about yourself, Klaus." Whispered Angelique in her breathy French accent.

" What is there to tell.I was chosen for this life for my skill at for seeing events that others could not. I have the ability to commune with angels. I interpret the voice of creation and give it life into this world. Why do you care?"

"I find you very intriguing. Do you not find yourself fascinating? Tell me about your embrace then." Purred Angelique as she made four small incisions around Klaus anus with a sharp silver scalpel. He winced at their bite but steadied his resolve.

"It was 1815, I was a young boy of fifteen in Lindau, a province of Bavaria control by the German empire. From the time I was five, I had been receiving divine messages and I shared their insight with the local townspeople. I had reached quite a celebrity status for accurately predicting several major local and world events. By the time I was fifteen I had been the head alter boy for the local congregation for several years and I even had my own children parade every May in my little town. I was loved and worshiped as a Saint-St. Kohler, don't you just love it?" Klaus winced a bit a the incision of the blade.

"As I grew older, the voice began to not only tell me of events to come but how to produce more effective visions and sermons. I began to listen to them and I created my own children's congregation that met in secret in the cathedral each night. Children, you see, have a special insight that is lost through years of subjugation to the adult world. I preached to them and gave my sermons which became, well, _quite energetic_. During one such sermon I was struck by divine inspiration and had the boys strip naked and had them lay across the alter while I took turns sodomizing them. I would have the most intense visions while my dick was in their tight rosy cheeks and they must have had the same as they returned to me every night. Eventually a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a well known clergy man by the name of Heinz Rittner, and his attendant, came to my village to meet me in person and speak with my parents. He said that my reputation had reached the Vatican and he wished to test me to see if I was ready to be taken to Vatican City to become trained in the clergy. You see this was a very desirable offer back in the day. Unbeknownst to me, he was a Cainite, his attendant was his loyal ghoul. He was observing my every move _especially _ my nightly sermons. One evening, after the other boys had left the cathedral, he surprised me and emerged from the shadows of the cathedral. He said that he was ready to give me my test now and told me to remove my clothes. He had me sit upon his lap while he striped me of _my_ virginity just as I had done to those boys in my nightly sermons." With his words, Angelique took a slender silver phallus and began penetrating Klaus rhythmically working his delicate, glowing young body until his sentences came in short gasps.

"And how did it feel when he fucked you for the first time?" Angelique whispered in the boys ear, excitement growing in her voice.

"It was extremely painful at first…it was a hot fire raging up inside my body…I think I may have screamed like a little girl, I could not control my passion. … My world went black and the vision took over… A great battle between fierce warriors lead by an unearthly fair-haired man with steely eyes and another group of inhuman men led by a dark-haired solider- the emblem of the gryphon on his uniform…. The fair-haired man's troops pushed forward and over came the gryphon's army… I did not know at the time but the fair haired man was a leader in the newly burgeoning faction that would become the Sabbat…"

"After I came and the vision ended…the Cardinal asked me what I had seen… he seemed pleased by my skills…he carried me over to one of the baptismal and began the creation rites… He poured hot wax over my body to remove the soft downy hair that puberty was beginning to bestow upon me. If I was to be his angel, I must remain pure and eternally young…He carried me back to the alter and continued his blessings upon me, taking my blood and gifting me with his immortal vitae…

I left Lindau the following night… My parents were informed...that I would be studying with the clergy in Rome… a great honor upon our family…I have remained with him ever since..."

"And during all those years, how did it make you feel when he would take in and fuck all those other boys? Did it make you burn for his affections?" Angelique prodded for a sensitive spot in Klaus' psyche but her bite found no purchase.

"No…he can fuck what he wants…they matter not… they are just meat…I am the only one who can ever be his immortal angel… No one can take that from me.." He pause and thought for a moment, inspiration had planted a seed.

"I have claimed him. Do you not claim someone, does not your sire claim you?" Klaus replied unflinchingly as he let an impassioned moan escape his lips. He was bating her, but she was too consumed with discovering Klaus' wounds to notice that she was being set up.

"No, I would never do such a thing. Freedom is precious. No one can claim me." Sounded Angelique defiantly.

"Oh really, and what if someone was to claim you?... What if you _sire_ demanded… that you were his?"

"I would have to kill him or any other who would do such a thing. My freedom is _mine_ and _mine_ alone." She replied.

"Spoken like a true member of the Sabbat-Brava." And there it was. She had given it freely to him. The seed he needed to begin his garden. The information that would teach Hanz the lesson he deserved for abandoning him in his childhood exile.

His words were now in quick burst as Angelique pushed closer to him and accelerated the thrusts of the apparatus into his body. She pulled his hair bringing his face back, close to hers, and bore down upon his neck from behind. As she drew in great mouthfuls of his potent vitae the two became lost in a moment of perfect bliss. The kiss took over all other sensations, far beyond the constriction of sex, the blood was every Cainites master.

Once they had finished their coupling Angelique untied Klaus and drew him over to her bed, the same bed he had bitterly watched her and Hanz make love the previous evening. She completely disrobed and bid him to lie on upon her. She drew a thin line of blood across her breast and bid him suckle. She stoked his hair and coddled him like a child as she moaned from the motions of his skillful tongue, the gentile brushing of his teeth across her nipple, the suckling of blood from her body.

He waited until she slept and quietly departed back to his haven in Walnut Creek to seek divine guidance.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III: Birth

The events of the previous evening had left him bitter and in deep contemplation of his existence. He prayed for guidance from the other angels and saints. He prayed for their vision or at least their madness to take him away from his own thoughts. For hours he knelt and prayed, the answer arrived in the form of an angry roar of a 49' Zundapp K 750 motorcycle making its way up the private drive of the Bavarian style estate. He had herd this sound many times back in Berlin when Hanz would arrive back at the coven after a long night out. Klaus made his way out of the beautiful tutor style estate to greet his old pack mate in person. Hanz got off the bike and released his grip on his passenger, an unconscious blond woman-well beaten and drained of blood, who slumped unceremoniously to the ground. His perpetually slicked back blond hair was disheveled, his clothes were wrinkled and blood stained, and he wore his tumultuous emotions heavily upon his normally stern, uncaring brow.

"Do you have time to talk Klaus?" Hanz' monotone voice quavered slightly. Not so much that anyone but Klaus would notice.

"Oh, for fuck sake Hanz! We are in the middle of Cam territory, bring your take-out inside before some sees it." Klaus said as he turned around nonchalantly and walked towards the entryway of the estate.

Once inside, Klaus led Hanz into his bedchamber to discuss the information that Klaus already knew.

"Hanzel, you look like shit. Was she not enough for you, please, here-have some of mine." Klaus sliced open his small wrist and offered it up to his pale friend. Hanz drank greedily from the boy and was overcome by a vibrant sensation that made him realize that he and Klaus, despite their differences, has some sort of unearthly kinship. They were beyond Cainites, beyond this world. Was this something that only immortal children could feel and understand or was Klaus playing with his mind as he had done so many times in the past?

After having the ghoul dispose of the body of the woman, Hanz recanted the tale of the previous nights events, events that Klaus had already been privy to. Klaus feigned indifference at the news and listened patiently while his ex-pack mate distressfully told his tale.

"And now what, Hanzel my dear, old, friend? Are you to stay behind and raise your sweet little family and be the perfect fucking daddy?" Spat Klaus when Hanz was finished.

"The child is dead Klaus, what am I to do?"

"If you hadn't noticed, so are you my dear Hanzel. You always seem to forget that. It makes no difference. Do you love her? Do you love Angelique? I know she does _something_ for you so don't try to lie to me. You told me yourself only a few weeks ago that she stirs something inside you that you though was dead. And now look, you have proof of your union, a lovely baby girl-or do you think it would have been a boy, so hard to tell at that stage isn't it? It does not matter really I suppose. Either way, congratulations Hanzel, you did what I could not, you have proven yourself a man. I will never have that luxury."

If he noticed the extreme attention to detail in Klaus' words, detail one could only know from bearing witness first hand, Hanz showed no sign of it. At first a look of anger crossed his face at the venom of the boy's words, but his features soon softened and the sorrow returned to Hanz' rich blue eyes.

"Klaus, I am lost. Please, for the first time in my un-life I do not know where I am going, or what I am to do. Every thing I am has been questioned in these nights and I have nothing left to hold onto for guidance!"

"What do you want from me Hanzel? What is it you think I could give you? So, your little world has come crashing down around you. Your dreams of Hitler Youth and perfect Arian domination crushed- you know Angelique isn't pure blood right? That means your child is a mongrel.

Why do you bring this to me? Do you seek my guidance and tutelage? I can't help you unless you are willing to stop thinking with your fists and are willing to push beyond the confines' of your fallible mortal body, you know that. Are you ready to take that step, or are you just here to fuck me?" Klaus waited with bated breath for Hanz' response. He was not sure if he was willing to help his old comrade and occasional lover. It was true, the two has spent a few evenings of indescression together back in Berlin much to the ire of Hanz upon recovering from his intoxications.

"I need your help. I need your insight that you are so famed for. Will you teach me what path I need to go down? Please Klaus, I ask you as my friend even though I know you are going to eventfully fuck me over with this. We are Cainites, it is what we do." A few red tears began tracing their way down his well formed cheek. His normally stoic demeanor crushed under the weight of a few drops of blood.

Something within Klaus was moved and churned. He could not tell if this was the feeling known as sympathy, compassion for his broken friend weeping upon his floor. Was it a desire to be the one Hanz was weeping over? Could it be jealousy of Angelique for claiming Hanz' thoughts or envy of Hanz for possessing so much of Angelique's affections? Perhaps it was something all together different- the birthing pains of a new game of intrigue. One that would repair his broken friend, bringing him into his favor and debt, a game that which would eventually self-destruct crushing Hanz' soul once and for all when the dust had cleared leaving Klaus to revel in his genius.

"Hanzel, my dear. Of course I will help you as long as you are willing to become an apt pupil. Are you strong enough to question your very soul? Are you ready for you first lesson or should we wait for another evening when you are not feeling so weak from your predicament?" Klaus feigned sympathy with a sparkling smile. He knew Hanz well enough to understand his intolerance of personal weakness.

Hanz nodded determinedly and spoke. "Tonight- I am ready."

"Excellent, then take off your clothes."

He paused for a moment and lifted a questioning eyebrow towards Klaus request, he then shrugged and complied. Klaus disrobed as well and bid Hanz to keel upon his alter like bed. He took up the sacred oils and began to trace the symbols for knowledge, truth and pain over Hanz' wiry naked body. Klaus ushered him into prayer which transformed from spoken word to living thought. Memories long forgotten were pushed to the surface in an echoing of ghostly sounds. Snapshots of Hanz' life before his embrace flooded the room and threatened to drown the troubled young man. As Klaus thrust deeper into his psyche, Hanz began to see his past present and future swirling in a pool of possibilities before him and above all, a militant voice from within him that called out what actions must be taking to achieve the desired out comes.

After the voices and images subside and recessed back into where ever they had come from, Hanz laid back shaken upon the bed in contemplation of all he has just seen. Klaus let him sit in silence to collect his thoughts.

Eventually Hanz began to speak again. Klaus analyzed for him the images he saw and Hanz for the first time found insight into his own condition.

"She really is an excellent specimen you know. Are you going to claim her?" questioned Klaus remembering the previous nights conversation with Angelique on the importance of freedom and her declaration of homicide towards those who whished to rob her of it.

"No. I could not. She would not have me." Replied Hanz as his gaze fixated upon the pattern on the sheets.

"Well, I think you should before someone else does. Perhaps I will claim her then since you have no intent to do so. Yes, I do rather like her." The trap had been set. Now it was time to see if the mouse would take the bait.

A ferocious beast of jealousy ignited behind Hanz' blue eyes.

"You wouldn't dare!" he snapped

"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. It depends on where the mood takes me. She does have such a lovely body and make the most wonderful sounds when I suckle on her petite breasts. If you are not going to claim her then maybe I will, if her sire does not already posses her." For a moment, Klaus thought Hanz would attack him. Had he gone to far in his taunt? But when the young man expression softened into one of concern, he knew that he was safe from Hanz ire. For now.

"But how. How would I claim her? Will you help me?" The trap had been sprung, the mouse was caught.

"Fine, if you have the balls I will help you. Perhaps you should _woo_ her. She is in love with pain and suffering, you have given her the greatest gift of personal suffering - the anguish of her lost child, let us find a new pain to give her and wrap it up in a lovely box and bow." The two sat in silence for several moments. Klaus feigned deep concentration.

"I have yet again been struck by genius! Get her to meet with us and I will gift her the memory of pain and anguish you had felt the moment you learned of you little bastard child's existence. She will love it!" Klaus giggled gleeful as school boy. So far this had been too easy.

"Do you really think she will like it?" Asked Hanz hopefully.

"She will love it!" Klaus winked.

The two then talked for hours as young men, naked on Klaus' circular bed. They laughed and joked as if the all years had not made them into the monsters that they were. As they shared an old memory, Hanz leaned in and gently cupped Klaus cheek drawing him in for a sincere and unexpected kiss upon his soft lips.

Klaus pulled back. "Why did you do that?" he barked. This tenderness was unexpected.

"You are a good friend to me Klaus. You have done for me what other Cainites would not. I would like to stay here with you tonight… if you will allow me."

In all of their indescressions, Hanz had never kissed him. The encounters were always violent, passionate and fueled by blood lust and intoxication. Once again, something strange and foreign kicked and stirred within Klaus.

"Why should I let you stay here? So you can call me little faggot like you always do when we are in front of other people?" Klaus tried in vain to suppress his emotion.

"I am sorry Klaus, I never realized it upset you so. I will leave if you wish it." Klaus fought back the urge to slap him and instead pressed his mouth hard onto Hanz'. Hanz reciprocated the action and the two become quickly intertwined. Hands and mouth set out exploring expanses of juvenile flesh. Klaus reached between Hanz' legs to feel the soft spread of blond hair that surrounded his manhood. Hair that Klaus was never to have thanks to his sire' handiwork. Hanz' shifted and guided the blood in his body to awaken his shaft in steady, throbbing increments and Klaus made sure he followed suit.

Hanz maneuvered his eager body over the boy and thrust himself deeply into his old friend. He savored the throbbing sensation of his blood being pushed back and forth though his cock as he griped Klaus' almost feminine hips for leverage against his tight, young body. He reached around and gripped Klaus' juvenile shaft in his hand and stroked it in rhythm with his thrusts. Klaus let out several impassioned moans and bit into Hanz well formed, athletic arm taking in large draughts of his blood. Hanz cried out in pleasure and bit down on Klaus' neck completing the circuit. The pressure intensified as the blood made its way in out of their bodies, rocking with their motions like a raging fire that eventually exploded into white hot flames that consumed them both.

Stated and exhausted, the two boys collapsed and Hanz fell into Klaus' waiting arms as the dawn was breaking somewhere outside.

"Stay with me Hanzel, just one more night will you?"

"I will."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV-Clock work

The nights pushed on like a never ending road stretching out down an deserted highway. Hanz and Klaus spend many hours delving deep into the young mans psyche searching for what Hanz would need to survive the assignation of his soul while Klaus meticulously searched for the perfect murder weapon to get the job done. But these evenings were not to be without an bit of indulgence. Klaus became insistent upon dragging Hanz out to several of the local night clubs, much to the stern young man's dismay, for dinner and drinks and dancing. On one of these evening Klaus was particularly intrigued by visiting a club in San Francisco that often played host t the local goth and industrial crowds drama.

"Come on Hansel, you will like it-it has German name, Die Machenin, and the interweb says that it is most popular. Don't you find it amusing- vampires walking amongst thong of mortal pretending to be vampires. It is like a rancher walking amongst a herd of cattle dressed in Armani business suits and brief cases. We will have fun, please say you will join me for a bite."

"Fine, I will join you but I will not like it. The things you have me do…" Hanz conceded as he laced up is well worn German army issue boots.

The two young men readied themselves in their evening attire, Hanz in his traditional militaristic woolen trench coat and dress shirt. His severely stark white blond hair slicked back as usual accentuating the well defined angles of his young face. Klaus, never being one to blend in with a crowd, opted to dress entirely white so as to stand out amounts a crowd of dark dancing figures. He wore tightly fitted pair of very low cut women's trousers that flared as the touched the ground covering the entirety of his feet and a form fitting club shirt cut several inches above the navel to accentuate his naked midriff and the graceful curves of his boyish hips to invite incarceration. Around his neck he wore the rosary his sire had given him at his catechism and the strange medallion the Saint Gabriel had led him to as a child that was buried deeply on the church grounds.

After an hour and a half the sleek almost silent Bentley accompanied by the presumptuous roar of Hanz' Zundapp found their way to the club entrance. They made their way inside under the guise of older men to avoid the securitizing eye of the bouncer. To Hanz' embarrassment Klaus, as usual, sached into the room making his presence burst forth like a spotlight to illuminate the dimly lit club. All eyes were upon him in awe, it was what he craved each time he went out into the night, to be worshipped and adored. As the young angel made his way onto the dance floor, Hanz attempted to dodge the attention and carefully slipped over to the bar while the crowed oggeled his flamboyant compatriot. But once face did not seem to be as hypnotized by the spectacle as the rest of the crowd. A woman, no-a Caineite, surrounded by a throng of mortals, was in seemingly deep contemplation of the creature out on the dance floor creating such a spectacle.

The young solider made a bold move and came up uncomfortably close behind her forcing air in and out of his lungs. It was intimidation tactic to assure his dominance over the situation.

"Are you going to buy me dinner first or just fuck me here at the bar?" The woman purred.

"I know you. You are new to this area, I have seen you before." He hissed into her hair in his monotone German accent.

"Ey, that's right. I remember you from that one dancin' out there's place. Klaus was it? And you were called Hanz-right?" her thick Irish brogue flow sweetly from her painted lips. Her herd kept their distance like sheep hiding from the wolf at the farmers door.

"Will you have a drink with me?" She gestured to an empty seat at her side which Hanz accepted, never once taking his stern blue eyes away from hers as if expecting a trap or a deception. She made a sharp hissing sound and swatted her hand over her shoulder at the egger mortals who sorrowfully dissipated at her command.

"Sorry bout that. I am a musician, they swarm up at me like flies." Hanz continued to question her until he felt satisfied and eased his stance. After a half an hour, Klaus made his way the bar and his brethren.

"You never go out and dance with me Hanzel, you are so not fun!" Klaus pouted. "Guttentag frauline, I believe we met at my home once before. I am please to see that Hanzel here is making new friends." Hanz glared at the flippant youth and gritted his teeth.

"Ay, we met before, I'm Killian. I am new to the area and just out learnin' what this region has to offer. Always good to meet and chat with like mined members of our sect." She smiled coyly though her boysenberry lips.

"Fucking awesome, you can hang out with us then. You will find that Hanz has a propensity to stare more than speak but I, my dear, never shut up. Hanz, I have discovered something that I think you will like." Klaus gestured over to the right and side of the club where a pale, lithe figure moved gracefully like a ballerina across the dance floor. Angelique was striking as always and the weight of Hanz' gaze drew her attention over to the bar. She smiled at him and enjoyed the pain of a memory behind her one dead eye. Like a deer in headlights, Hanz made his way out to her knocking over a few dancers in his wake. The two undulated and moved together as she ground her delicate form into his awaiting hips. He drew her head back and sunk his fangs deeply into the nape of her neck as she rocked against his body amongst the ocean of unsuspecting mortals. Hanz reveled in his gluttony and felt his already laden blood vessels and veins bulge and pulse with the intake of her vitae. Klaus and Killian watched from across the room as the two shared their very public private moment. Something with in Klaus lurched and tuned and screamed to be let out, was he going to be ill? Was it the voice of creation trying be birthed from his mouth to give sermon to the dark devils that swarmed the alcohol saturated dance floor? The contents of his stomach, several truffles of dark chocolate and whipped butter cream, three glasses of chardonnay and the blood of a dark and handsome man that he had done blow with and then fed upon earlier in the evening lurched again and threatened to break free of the confines of his body and soil his perfectly white shirt and trousers. He told the sensation to quite down, he was in control of his body and would not tolerate insubordination. His stomach settled as Hanz and Angelique made their way back to the bar but something still swam around and around instead him like a great eel reading for a strike.

Angelique leaned in and kissed Klaus once on each cheek, a customary greeting. He could smell Hanz blood sweat upon her skin, a subtle scent that Klaus knew quite well. Even after all his years as a vampire the little soldier has still not found mastery over his own memory of mortal bodily functions. Klaus had always found it amusing as well as a weakness in Hanz' impenetrable fortrace. Klaus chocked back his sudden bought of nausea and steadied his resolve.

"So good to see you all here. Who would have thought we would all run into each other like this?" Angelique smiled and nodded a recognition to Killian as well. The music swelled as dancers made their way to the floor for a club favorite.

"Well ghost feeler. A boonch of Vampires in a goth trub!" Killain smiled, her think Irish brogue destroy her words under the throb of the music.

"Was tis dat frog kill him?" Replied Klaus in confusion

"What?"

"What?"

It became very obvious that the challenge of deciphering each others accents over the cacophony of industrial music was going to prove a difficulty. The predators moved closer to each other despite their instinct to keep their distance.

"I said, What was that Frauline Killian?" Klaus' words suddenly took shape in the closeness of their uncomfortable proximity.

"Oh, I said-Go figure, a bunch of Vampires in a goth club. Ack, doesn't really matter any more." Killian replied.

Angelique let her had cares the soft curl of hair on Klaus' check causing him to flinch. "Hanz has told me that you two boys have a gift for me, I am most curious as to what you two have in store."

"Yes we do, but it is not something we can give you here. It is Hanz' present really, I am merely the conduit." Klaus replied looking haphazardly around the room.

"Well we can barely even hear each other here, should we go somewhere more private then?" Angelique mused.

"What, all of us? After your little floor show out there I would think you and Hanzel here would be looking for somewhere to get what ever the fuck kick you're on out of your system. But sure, we can go back to my place." Klaus spat drawing strange looks from his compatriots. And just as sudden as his surge of anger surfaced, the little devil resumed his angelic form as his head lolled around to face Killian, a sweet smile of innocence upon his lips. "Would your care to join us my dear?"

"Ah what the fuck, I am up for an adventure."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V Metamorphosis

After the drive back to Walnut Creek, the four Cainites made their way into Klaus estate to continue their conversations. Hanz walked Angelique to the large double doors and left to pick up a "drink" for the rest of the guests. Angelique, Killian and Klaus spent their time making themselves comfortable in the main drawing room chatting about local events and various curiosities of popular culture in the Americas.

"So Killian, what brings you here to the East Bay. If you tell me you are a California I will certainly not believe you, unless perhaps you are one hell of a liar." Klaus questioned and made use of a small antique snuff bottle.

"Well, I was just travlin' around Europe, like I said, I am a musician, I tour a lot and I caught wind of the war goin on down here and thought I would take a stab at finding me self a good fuckin pack to run with. How's it that you all come here. None of ya lot seem to be from this country either. You boys sound German or something and she sounds French , it this all a big fuckin coincidence, everyone commin over from Europe all of a sudden?."

"No, everything happens for a reason my dear. Most of us heard the call at Palle Gande in Mexico City. I was shown this place by the other Angels, you see I am somewhat of a prophet for our sect. They told me that this is the next great battle in our Holy Crusade."

Sudden slam of a door and heavy footsteps interrupted the conversation as Hanz returned with a blood stained shirt carrying an unconscious man who reeked of whiskey.

"Here you go. You said you like them Irish. I do not know if he is Irish but he had an accent and was drinking Bushmills-good enough." He said as he dropped the body at Killian's feet like a cat presenting the remains of a bird on his human's doorstep.

Killian nodded her thanks and kicked the man hard in the ribs to revive him from his stupor so that he would be aware of what was about to happen to him. Each Vampire laid clam to a choice spot on the drunken mortal's body as they dug their fangs deep into his warm flesh, lapping up his welling blood. The victims garbled screams and attempts to push off his attackers became whisky laden moans as the kiss took effect. He was soon silenced as his heart ran out of blood to fuel his veins for the greedy parasites who were determined to enjoy every last drop. Appetite satiated, Klaus stood and gestured to Angelique.

"Do you still want your present?"

She slowly nodded and smiled innocently blinking her eyes the way a patient child would when expecting treat.

Klaus escorted the three Cainites to his bedchamber sanctuary leading Hanz and Angelique to his large inviting bed and bid them to disrobe. Killian, unsure what was to come, kept a safe distance, finding seating on the large marble steps on at the bedrooms entrance, an escape rout to her back at all times. Klaus removed his clothing and anointed the two on the bed with sacred oils and holy symbols. Prayers began to fill the room in Latin in German almost seeming to overlap, their meaning lost somewhere in translations. He took Hanz' powerful hand in his and intertwined their fingers and did the same with Angelique's slender digits. As he spoke, he let his mind seep into Hanz' psyche, thumbing thorough his memories like and old family photo album. He shared Hanz pain with her, snapshots of his joyless upbringing and his years with the Hitler jungen trying to become the perfect solider for the Fürher-seeking some form of guidance and acceptance in a impoverished country. What sweet perfection, the blade was sharp tonight and Klaus' cuts were precise and expertly angled. He stopped on the bitter mortal memory when Hanz first met Angelique back in Germany. Her boyfriend at the time, Hanz' superior, wished to punish his woman for her insolence and he had ordered Hanz to rape her in front of the entire company to teach her what a whore she truly was. Feelings for this beautiful, fragile seeming woman whom he has seen on many occasions walking arm in arm with the general, ones he had never admitted to even himself, had to be pushed aside as he followed his commanding officer's orders and forced his way inside of her on that squeaking army bunk in front of a jeering crowd of soldiers. Klaus dissected and prepared the memory of how Hanz saw her the next day and the guilt he had felt over his weakness, his inability to listen to his own voice and disobey orders. She was bruised, with a bandage over her right eye, obviously a new present from her beau-she would never see the world the same again thanks to his love and the world would see her as a freak with one eye that stares through a milky white cloud beyond the blood drenched atmosphere of wartime Germany.

But more, more was needed and there was so much more to be given. Klaus resurrected the rage that impregnated Hanz over the indignities that he was ordered to commit against a woman he cared so much for. A rage that drove the little solider to the murder the General going against the strict regiment he has build his life upon. An act that labeled him a traitor to Duchland, an act that led his comrades to shoot him down like a Jew in the street that would ultimately lead to his embrace into Caine's army. A new Furher to control his path when other had failed. Each bullet his comrades fired at him cut through his soul and became metals of failure and dishonor. Something inside him died before his body even hit the ground and Klaus was determined to give Angelique a front row seat to the funeral procession. But there was so much more pain to be had, so much further for Klaus to drive before Hanzel discovered the destination.

He pushed forward and stopped when he found the memory of Angelique's lesson, the knowledge of Hanz' paternity. Klaus drove the knife deeper into Hanz frail brain and let the memory of pain and emotion of the situation flood his senses which he then passed like a dirty whisper into Angelique's eagerly awaiting mind. A sad smile of satisfaction passed her lips as she acknowledge her lesson has been learned well that evening. Her palate had been wetted and Klaus was determined to give her something even tastier.

In plunged the knife searching for a vital organ-information that Hanz did not want to pass onto Angelique. The blade found purchase in a memory of Hanz' horror and disgust, not of his child but of the thought that he created something that was not pure. His child was tainted, a mongrel, a mixed breed not of pure Arian blood. Hanz tried to struggle out of Klaus' grip but the spider had already caught the fly and the struggle only entrenched him deeper into the web. Angelique clutched her stomach as phantom pains of labor swepted over her body. However in one fleeting moment lost in madness and power as Klaus raped Hanz memory of the presentation of his daughter and his love for Angelique he failed to cover his presence in the room that night. As the memory replayed on a variable loop each circuit extracting a new facet to Hanz pain there was one fleeting moment of the memory where Hanz saw Klaus standing in the corner of Christopher study watching the events unravel before him. Something he had never notice before but would not soon forget.

Deeper, he need to drive deeper into both of them so that they would never forget this evening and it would forever become a new festering entry in their book of pain.

And there is was.

In just a flash of light like the glint of the sun off a steel blade, Klaus gave Angelique a glimmer of the putrid human emotion that Hanz felt for her, a desire for her love in exchange for his own. Angelique doubled over in the pain of seeing into Hanz humanity, something so foul and deplorable in their world of Vampiric superiority that it made her weep. The arousal at their discomfort and his power over their minds was so intense that it was hard for Klaus to control his steely concentrations. He wanted to laugh and revel in Hanzels' vulnerability. He could feel his Hanz cry out under the pressure of his mind trying desperately not to let him revel any more of his private thoughts to the woman he loved. But the damage had already been done, and so the Angel let them go satisfied in the storm he has created.

Hanz grasped his temples and swung his legs over the edge of the bed silently hung his head between his knees. Angelique collapsed into the fetal position onto the bed. Still weeping, she tenderly stroked her stomach in memoriam of her lost child. Killian stared wide eyed prepared for anything. She was not entirely certain what had jut happened but she was sharp enough to know that the situation could explode into violence at any moment.

Klaus let the silence blanket the room. Several minutes passed before he slowly crawled up behind Angelique to cradle her like a child would seek comfort from its mother. She accepted his embrace stroking him tenderly.

Seeing this tenderness towards this vile little monster that had just violated every trust he had confided in him awoke Hanz from his daze. A flame erupted in his eyes that sought to scorch the object of his wrath. Killian immediately sensed the shift in the young solider emotions and came up to his side, grasping gently at his clenched fist.

"Hey do you smoke? I could sure use a smoke. Ya know this place is so big I am not sure if I can find my way out, wanna come out an smoke with me? I could use an escort." She kept her cool and used her natural charm to distract the young Brujah Antitribu. He conceded to her rouse and quickly threw on his clothes and led Killian outside.

Fully aware of what was happing around him, Klaus indulged in a secret smile knowing that his strike had struck deeply into the young Cainite's soul.

After a few moments, Angelique still naked and vulnerable, found her satisfaction in the pain that Klaus had helped Hanz to give her. Her naked back still spooned into Klaus small frame she began to slowly brush and move her body into the young boy's caressing curves. She was offering herself to him as a gift for his diligence and dedication to Hanz' education. Klaus was not sure how to take this advance, but he was never one to turn down a gift. Part of him decided that this was unneeded and it was time to leave the room but once again something in him lurched forwarded and spun at her attention. If Hanz were to come back in for his keys, he would see them together indulging in a very intimate moment, it may just drive him over the edge. The next step in the assignation of his soul must be to kill the love he has for this haunting apparition of a woman. What is it that Hanz felt when he was with her? Why did he have the ability to see the world through a mans eyes when Klaus could not? What must it feel like to be inside his skin and part of Angelique's body?

Klaus' face twisted an warped silently as he pushed though his own memories of Hanz' psyche. He need to be part of the soldiers' mind to find out what was needed to destroy him. His normally auburn locks shorted and and took on a golden hue. His thin, almost feminine body visibly broadened and took on an older form. The Angel had transformed into the Solider. Angelique's advances continued unaware of the change that had taken place in the creature behind her. The Solider grabbed her hip fiercely in one had and the back of her neck with the other pushing her face further from his one and pushing himself deep inside her. She cried out and bit down on his forearm drawing the blood from his veins and into her egger mouth. Klaus bit down on the nape of her neck ingesting all the memories he had collected of Hanz most intimate moments with Angelique. His head swam with the Solider memories and emotions as he thrust harder into her taught flesh. In all his existence, Klaus had never felt was to physically and aggressively dominate another Kindred. This was a new sensation, empowering and intoxicating in way unlike his uncanny ability to force his will and the voice of creation upon the minds of others. In this moment he was no longer the boy but the Solider. He was Hanz in body and even in loathsome humanistic mind.

The two canites released each other from their grasp, still intoxicated by the kiss. As Angelique twisted her body to face her lover he caught a fleeting glimpse of blond hair and a muscular form staring back at her though steely blue eyes. But even in the instant that her eyes connected the visage to her mind, the face change and she lay next to the Angel. She dismissed the strange vision that she though she had just seen and kissed Klaus on the forehead as heavy footsteps made their way done the hall and towards the bedroom.

Hanz threw open the heavy doors. The heavy scent of blood letting still air dominate the as Angelique was putting on her cloths. He stood their silently, as she finished dressing and nodded her goodbyes making her way out the door like a ghost in the night.

"Where are my keys Klaus." His voice trembled in anger. If he had only come in a few moment sooner he would have seen the two of them together. It would have been all too perfect. A new web would have to be woven.

"Oh, but it is such a lovely evening Hanzel and Angelique did so enjoy her gift. You could just stay a bit longer, or the night." Klaus was toying with him. Although the boy abhorred experiencing physical pain he know that to progress in the assignation of Hanz's mortal soul that he must bate the beast that lurked inside him. And the beast was always a violent predator.

"Why are you doing this to me! You said you were my friend how can you do this, you know what I feel for her!" Hanz yelled as he moved towards the bed.

Klaus rose and moved quickly towards has old pack mate.

"Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? You idiot boy, I am doing this because you asked me too!" Klaus' form undulated and warped until it reflect Hanzels own visage.

" You make me sick Hanzel you reek of mortal flesh and emotion you are no better than a blood cow! 'Help me Klaus, save me. Teach me to find a new path in my tortuous existence.' I do_ this_ because you begged me too! You told me you were strong but you are too weak to even face yourself." Klaus screamed at Hanzel secretly bracing for the blow that he knew would eventually come.

Confronted by this screaming reflection of himself, Hanz let loose his fire in a bust of unfathomable speed as his fist slammed into Klaus, shattering his delicate jaw. His was what Klaus was waiting for. The beast inside of Hanz was about to appear and must be caged before it come completely free so that Hanz can come face to face with what he truly is. Klaus opened his mouth and let the voice of God explode from the within the storm.

Hanz grasped his head as the world turned into a multitude of colors around him. His eyes were bulging from his head and he was certain at a colony of insects had begun to chew their way through his flesh. The sound was unbearable and Hanz collapsed within himself under the weight, trapped in his own mind.

Klaus undressed Hanz' body and dragged him onto the waiting bed. He wiped the bloody drool from off the young mans face and propped a pillow under his head. His eyes were still open but they saw nothing but the inner workings of his own mind. Klaus nursed his own shattered jaw and then curled up next to Hanz in bed to await the dawn and the oblivion of immortal sleep.


End file.
